diff --git a/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_02_install-surfaces-agree/backlog-link.json b/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_02_install-surfaces-agree/backlog-link.json
index 4c491a50c..c8075e675 100644
--- a/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_02_install-surfaces-agree/backlog-link.json
+++ b/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_02_install-surfaces-agree/backlog-link.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
   "backlog": "ai-driven-dev/framework#703",
-  "writtenAt": "2026-09-02T20:15:00Z",
-  "writtenBy": "aidd-orchestrator:01-sdlc"
+  "written_at": "2026-09-02T20:15:00Z",
+  "written_by": "aidd-orchestrator:01-sdlc"
 }
diff --git a/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_03_trailer-survives-a-regenerated-hook/backlog-link.json b/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_03_trailer-survives-a-regenerated-hook/backlog-link.json
index 0402ee9a2..3f08a3d5d 100644
--- a/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_03_trailer-survives-a-regenerated-hook/backlog-link.json
+++ b/aidd_docs/tasks/2026_09/2026_09_03_trailer-survives-a-regenerated-hook/backlog-link.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
   "backlog": "ai-driven-dev/framework#746",
-  "writtenAt": "2026-09-03T06:40:00Z",
-  "writtenBy": "aidd-orchestrator:01-sdlc"
+  "written_at": "2026-09-03T06:40:00Z",
+  "written_by": "aidd-orchestrator:01-sdlc"
 }
diff --git a/scripts/__tests__/a-backlog-link-the-reader-can-read.test.js b/scripts/__tests__/a-backlog-link-the-reader-can-read.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa18649b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/__tests__/a-backlog-link-the-reader-can-read.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+const assert = require("node:assert/strict");
+const cp = require("node:child_process");
+const fs = require("node:fs");
+const path = require("node:path");
+const { describe, it } = require("node:test");
+
+const ROOT = path.resolve(__dirname, "../..");
+
+/**
+ * A task folder declares the backlog item it delivers in `backlog-link.json`, and the whole
+ * `by_backlog` axis rests on that one file being readable.
+ *
+ * Nothing checked that it was. Of the three declarations this repository held, two carried
+ * `writtenAt` and `writtenBy` while `task-backlog-adapter.ts` reads `written_at` and
+ * `written_by`, so the report answered `declaration: unreadable` for 130 records and named
+ * the item for 4. Both were written by `aidd-orchestrator:01-sdlc`, which is told to let
+ * Spec or Plan declare the item and instead wrote the file itself, taking the field names
+ * from the TypeScript interface rather than from what either skill teaches.
+ *
+ * The reader is a `cli/` module and this is a repository script test, so the rule is
+ * restated here rather than imported across that boundary — and the second case below is
+ * what keeps the restatement honest.
+ */
+const REQUIRED_FIELDS = ["backlog", "written_at", "written_by"];
+
+function trackedBacklogLinks() {
+  return cp
+    .execSync("git ls-files '*backlog-link.json'", { cwd: ROOT, encoding: "utf8" })
+    .trim()
+    .split(/\r?\n/)
+    .filter(Boolean);
+}
+
+describe("every backlog declaration in this repository is one the report can read", () => {
+  it("names the fields the reader looks for, in the spelling it looks for them", () => {
+    const unreadable = [];
+
+    for (const file of trackedBacklogLinks()) {
+      let parsed;
+      try {
+        parsed = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, file), "utf8"));
+      } catch (error) {
+        unreadable.push(`${file} is not JSON: ${error.message}`);
+        continue;
+      }
+      const missing = REQUIRED_FIELDS.filter(
+        (field) => typeof parsed[field] !== "string" || parsed[field] === ""
+      );
+      if (missing.length > 0) {
+        unreadable.push(`${file} is missing ${missing.join(", ")} (has ${Object.keys(parsed).join(", ")})`);
+      }
+    }
+
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      unreadable,
+      [],
+      `A task folder declares a backlog item the report cannot read, so its work counts as ` +
+        `\`unreadable\` and the item is never named.\n${unreadable.join("\n")}`
+    );
+  });
+
+  /** The two skills that teach the file are the only things that decide what gets written,
+   * so they have to teach the same three names — and the same three this test asks for.
+   * Read from the skills rather than trusted: a taught shape drifting away from the reader
+   * is exactly what produced the two unreadable files, and a guard restating the fields
+   * without checking the lesson would have stayed green through it. */
+  it("is the shape both skills that write it actually teach", () => {
+    const TEACHING_ACTIONS = [
+      "plugins/aidd-pm/skills/04-spec/actions/01-build.md",
+      "plugins/aidd-dev/skills/01-plan/actions/04-plan.md",
+    ];
+
+    for (const action of TEACHING_ACTIONS) {
+      const text = fs.readFileSync(path.join(ROOT, action), "utf8");
+      for (const field of REQUIRED_FIELDS) {
+        assert.ok(text.includes(`"${field}"`), `${action} must teach the field "${field}"`);
+      }
+    }
+  });
+});